Two Tracks to Offer Claiming Crown Qualifiers

Kentucky Downs and Laurel Park will host automatic qualifying races for this year's Claiming Crown, which is scheduled for Dec. 3 at Gulfstream Park.

The two tracks will pay nomination fees and provide a travel stipend for the winners of the qualifying races, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association said July 18. The Claiming Crown is a joint venture of TOBA and the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.

Kentucky Downs, the all-turf track, will offer two races Sept. 11, one for the Claiming Crown Emerald, which carries a $25,000 starter allowance condition and will be raced at 1 1/16 miles on the turf for 3-year-olds and up; and the other for the Tiara, which is for fillies and mares with a $25,000 starter allowance condition at 1 1/16 miles on grass.

Laurel Park's preview day is set for Nov. 6 with automatic qualifiers for all nine Claiming Crown races. It held a similar program last fall.

"Kentucky Downs is proud to host two Claiming Crown automatic qualifying races at our fall meet," Kentucky Downs senior vice president and general manager Ted Nicholson said. "Run over our unique, European-style turf course with $75,000 in purses, these races are sure to have full, competitive fields and provide two quality contenders for the respective Claiming Crown races at Gulfstream Park in December."

The full $75,000 purse for each automatic qualifier race at Kentucky Downs is available to every horse in the field, with no money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.  Kentucky Downs also will pay the $100 nominating fee for the Claiming Crown and up to $1,000 for travel expenses for the prep winners.

Owner Ken Ramsey, the three-time defending Kentucky Downs champion owner and whose 14 Claiming Crown wins are the most in the program's 17 years, said he intends to have horses that fit Kentucky Downs' Claiming Crown preps.

"I'll claim one at Saratoga," he said. "We'll be claiming horses at Saratoga for the Claiming Crown and also for  Kentucky Downs. I want to take my hat off to (Kentucky Downs president) Corey Johnsen and his crew down there for the remarkable job they're doing. I'm delighted they're putting in those starter-allowance races. They're trying to put the money back in the industry—where it belongs.

"I plan on going for my fourth owner's title. In fact, I'm not even sending as many horses to Saratoga as I normally send. You're almost prepping at Saratoga to win a race at Kentucky Downs."

"We're extremely pleased that Laurel will once again hold qualifying races for the 2016 Claiming Crown at Gulfstream Park," Maryland Jockey Club president and general manager Sal Sinatra said. "Not only is this a great way to showcase the Claiming Crown in the Mid-Atlantic to our fans at Laurel and throughout our off-track betting locations, but it's a wonderful opportunity for some of our horsemen to earn a trip to South Florida and the Claiming Crown without having to worry about shipping costs."

TOBA president Dan Metzger said the Claiming Crown "has evolved into an important event on the racing calendar with owners and trainers, and these qualifying races will add both quality and depth to what promises to be another competitive day of racing at Gulfstream Park."

Earlier this year, officials announced the Claiming Crown, inaugurated in 1999 at Canterbury Park, would be held at Gulfstream through 2018. The program in recent years has been held on opening day of the Florida track's Championship meet and has generated pari-mutuel handle of about $10 million.